An election not to have, or to end, the account, made in a signed statement.
Is there a separate reserve account today?
A distinct account, not a line inside the operating account.
You are opted in.
Each annual budget must provide for reserve funds. The statute lists what the association weighs when it sets the amount: what is already in the account, the estimated cost of repairing or replacing common elements, their remaining useful life, how much of that cost the account is meant to carry, and anything else the association thinks relevant.
Money in the account is for repair and replacement of common elements, not routine upkeep. Using it for operating costs needs the written consent of two-thirds of the unit votes and it has to be paid back within three years.
Nobody opted out, yet there is no separate account. For condominiums created on or after November 1, 2004, the declarant was to set one up at creation; older associations had 18 months from November 1, 2004, or from the end of declarant control if later, to set one up or vote not to.
There may be an explanation in your records, such as a small condominium of 12 units or fewer, which the section skips unless it chose to be covered. Check with the association’s attorney before the next budget.
An association that opted out or ended its account can set one up later with the written consent of a majority of the unit votes, and must sign and record a new statement when it does.
Opting out of the account is not opting out of the roof. Buyers are told in the executive summary whether the association keeps reserves, and lenders ask too. Many opted-out boards still commission a study to plan special assessments.
Every statutory reserve account statement, whether it sets up an account, declines one or ends one, is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the condominium instruments are recorded. It carries the condominium’s name as it appears in the declaration, so a search on that name usually finds it.
Your declaration gives the creation date, and the latest annual budget must show the amount in any statutory reserve account. Between the three you will know which side of the line you are on.
